What The Hell America!

Even tariffs on imported clothing can have a gender bias.

A bill from two Democratic representatives would investigate the “pink tariff,” which encompasses the higher tax rates on imported items classified as women’s goods.

The bill, reintroduced this session by Reps. Lizzie Fletcher of Texas and Brittany Pettersen of Colorado, would ask the Treasury Department to study these “pink tariffs” and their effects to see if the burden of paying them eventually falls unevenly on consumers. 

“Before all the tariff conversation this year — we’ve had this bill since last year [and] unfortunately, women pay more for the supplies that we use,” Pettersen told The 19th. “We’re getting taxed on things that we rely on … so it’s about bringing equity around tariffs so that women aren’t paying more.”

Incoming clothing is classified by gender through government textile codes, and the tariffs on them aren’t always equal. Importers would pay a 8.5 percent tax rate for a men’s anorak, for example, while a woman’s coat in the same category is taxed at 14 percent. Even clothing that would eventually be labeled as “unisex” in stores is automatically tariffed as though it were women’s garments, per the government code, bearing those same, often-higher rates.

In a Republican-controlled Congress, the bill is highly unlikely to advance to a floor vote or beyond to become law. But as more Americans become aware of how companies can pass higher foreign import costs onto consumers, the representatives said they want to press the government to do more to even out shoppers’ experiences. President Donald Trump has threatened, enacted and rescinded tariffs repeatedly against several countries this year, including China — whose share of clothing imports to the United States has fallen over the past decade.

“Trump doesn’t care about making sure women don’t pay more, but I think we can find some bipartisan support potentially, to attach this when it’s moving forward,” Pettersen said.

The United States is the world’s largest single-country importer of apparel, which makes up around three-quarters of the country’s total tariff burden. Uneven rates based on gender create  some deep divides for consumers across the economy — on average, tariffs are 3 percent higher for women’s clothing. 

Companies importing the goods pay the tariff, but that price is often passed onto the consumer. However, these import taxes are just one factor among others that create price differences, including marketing and different ingredients or product makeup.